Jersey Figaro Rally – Wednesday 16th/Sunday 20th May 2018

After many months of planning the day to pack up, our two Figs was finally with us. For logistical reasons, we’d decided to take the 61 rally packs with us. On the day this decision was one that we started to regret. The only way we could get everything in was to stuff the packs under the rear seat via the lower boot. This meant wrapping them up in packs of 10 with bin liners and packing tape. For a brief moment, we felt a bit like drug smugglers and hoped that we wouldn’t get stopped by customs at the ferry! To make sure we got to the ferry at 11.00 we decided to book overnight accommodation and get within a few minutes of the ferry terminal at Poole on the day of departure. On arrival at the hotel, we noticed a good number of Figs already parked at the Premier Inn car park. Showered and refreshed we met up in the bar and enjoyed a meal whilst chatting to lots of excited members.

Knowing that there were around 50 cars due to travel we made our way to the terminal and as we turned the corner you could see half the car park was full of members. What an amazing sight to behold. Many were out of their cars catching up with old friends and making new ones. We started to move and made our way in convoy to the lower decks. Another picture opportunity as it’s not that often that Figaros take over almost half a ferry deck. The crossing was thankfully very calm and on entry to Guernsey many of us went up on deck to wave on Scottish members Ken & Sandra Graham. Ken had arrived a few days earlier to enjoy the delights of Guernsey and Sark.

Arriving at St Helier we made our way down to the cars and exited in convoy along the terminal roads. As we got onto the public roads we could see a very long line a figs and Westhill Hotel owner John Smale parking everyone up. This would be the first of countless photos we would be all jumping out to take. As the line was growing longer it was clear that there was not enough room to squeeze us all in so it before we create a roadblock it was time to move on.

On arrival at the hotel the car park looked amazing with so many cars in some fantastic custom colours parked up. Now we really were at a Figaro Rally. After hastily unpacking the cars and removal of the rally packs we checked in and dumped the cases. There was little time to unpack so we decided to exploring the wonderful gardens of John’s hotel before ending up the bar for the rally welcome drinks & dinner.

Thursday morning brought lovely warm sunshine, perfect top down driving for our Island Drive. Sue and I made our way down to reception to lay out all the rally packs for collection. Breakfast over with we had a briefing at 09.30 where I went over a few key points. Jackson Lowe arrived with his drone and it took off up over the hotel. We got everyone together for our Figgy Wave and the drone flew down to hover over the cars. Moments later we were all sat in our little figs ready for the off. John Smale was the led car as we departed the hotel at 10.00 on the dot. The first leg was from the hotel to Devil’s Hole a distance of 12kms (26 minutes). Our figgy snake made our way from south to north taking in many of the pretty ‘green lanes’ on-route. At a few key turning points John had put up some ‘Figaro Signage’ to help us navigate our way through the narrow lanes. Arriving at Devil’s we managed to park okay. Little did we know that Jackson had been capturing all the footage from 500ft in the air with his drone! Leaving the car park, we made our way down the cliff to two amazing platforms and stunning views of the sea.

45 Mins later we were back at the car park ready for our next leg. We should have made our way to ‘Gronez Castle’ but due to time John decided to cut this part off and head straight for our 3^rd stop and beach walk. Unfortunately, the convoy got broken and we lost around 20 cars who kept to the rally book route. Thankfully my son Dan helped lead them back to the beach where we were parked. Again, Jackson was capturing some stunning aerial footage of the cars making their way down the coastal lanes towards the sea. Parked up at the beach the wind blew hard making our rally flags look fantastic. We had asked everyone to locate the flag on the passenger side so we all matched.

Pictures and videos shot it was time to make our way to our 4^th stop of the day, lunch at Corbiere Phare. This meant taking the now famous Les Grande route which is a coastal road with the most incredible views. Luckily on arrival, the car park was empty but soon full of figs. We had researched this highly rated restaurant on the internet and it promised to be a real treat. Unfortunately, the lunch fell well short of expectations and put a bit of a downer on the day. Later in the rally, John managed to negotiate a discount which was apricated. Leaving the restaurant, we now headed east on the 5^th leg of our journey taking in the Old Smugglers Inn on the way and making our way around the island in an anti-clockwise direction. Our next stop was tea and cake at Long Beach. John had his staff in position with cups and cakes ready for us to arrive.

St Catherine’s Breakwater & Bouley Bay completed all the destinations, before making our way back to the hotel around 17.30. Total distance was 90kms.

There was little time to catch our breath as we needed to be fed and watered by 19.30 to catch the coach to our Figaro Bowling Evening. We had pre-booked 12 lanes with the teams already in place. The evening was brilliant fun and there was some fierce competition! Unfortunately, Angeligue Case has an accident and twisted her ankle during the evening. Back at the hotel, she was treated with ice and bandages and thankfully okay a few days later. It was time for the bowling awards which I presented to the following…

BOWLING AWARDS

1^ST PLACE BOWLING WINNING TEAM – 1,329 POINTS

Judy & Tony Derwent / Max & John Smale

2^ND PLACE BOWING TEAM – 1,187 POINTS

Lynette &Robert Parsons / John & Pamela Heath

1^ST PLACE INDIVIDUAL WINNER – 257 POINTS

Max Smale

2^ND PLACE INDIVIDUAL WINNER – 256 POINTS

Peter Sumpter

3^RD PLACE INDIVIDUAL WINNER – 240 POINTS

Steve Nevin

Friday morning was a free day where you could either take on the fun exercise of the Scavenger Hunt or do your own thing. Scavenger was a list of clues with routes around the island where you had to identify points and complete an entry form. On completion, the form was handed to John for marking, the results of which were announced on the Saturday evening. We had provided a list of possible places to visit in the rally book. Our son Daniel had researched a rare Puffin nesting grounds so we decided to make our way on a Puffin hunt! Who would have thought that only a few hours later we would be observing these amazing little birds from a windswept clifftop? Luckily, I had remembered to pack my binoculars as they are very difficult to spot. One of the great things about going on holiday out of peak time meant we could simply stroll down to the local beach and secure a table right by the sea. A tasty lunch whilst watching the world go by was the order of the day. We enjoyed a beach walk before making our way back to our cars along the cliff walk. Back at the hotel, it was time for a few beers in the garden as we watched the sun go down.

Saturday was wear a wig or hat day and again brought lovely sunshine. I put on my wig and looked like a rock god as Sue put on her crown (it was the day of the royal wedding). At breakfast, everyone was sitting wearing a wig or hat and looking fantastic. Departing at 10.00 we decided to try and leave the hotel in ‘colour order’ just to make it more interesting. The route down to the Lower Car Park was only 5 Minutes. John led the way and was stood at the entrance to guide us all in. A few days before we left for the rally member Patrick Light had sent me an idea of parking 37 cars in a way that would spell FIGARO from the air. We decided that this would be a great time to see if we could do this so as the cars entered the car park, John asked them if they wanted to be in the picture. Pat did a brilliant job as from the ground it was always going to be difficult to try and arrange the cars to represent each letter. After 30 minutes it was completed and Colin Bullock asked if he could use his trailer for the full stop. What a brilliant idea and it finished off the word nicely. Patrick flew his drone and we also had Jackson to capture some awesome shots (see video).

Parked up we made our way to catch the little ferries to Elizabeth Castle where many of our group enjoyed the battlements which date back to 1590. Marching and live gun fire was followed by a walk back to shore after the tide had gone out. Last stop of the day was Samares Manor where we enjoyed a fabulous lunch and stunning gardens, again in warm sunshine.

Our farewell dinner was followed by the Quiz & Awards evening, which is a light-hearted Ceremony of fun, frivolity and farewells. My son Daniel took to the mic for the Quiz. Congratulations to the following winners…

QUIZ WINNING TEAM

Chris & Penny Williams / Andy & Patricia Hennell

SCAVENGER HUNT WINNERS

Anne & Stuart Wrigley

FURTHEST TRAVELLED

David & Elma Carle

BEST HAT OR WIG

Peter Pattemor

Many thanks for all our super-friendly members who made it such a wonderful rally to be part of. Also, John Smale for his help with creating the routes and dealing with the venues and all his amazing staff. Patrick Light for his help in creating the ‘FIGARO’ shoot.

And last but by no mean least, Jackson Lowe for all the totally awesome drone footage!

PLAY VIDEO